Dara’s Museum of Wonders: A Sensory Swirl for Ice Cream Lovers

As museums around the world are putting more emphasis on being experiential (or, to be frank, more Instagramable), Cairo-based experiential design studio The Cult decided to ride the wave alongside popular Egyptian ice cream shop Dara’s Ice Cream with a fresh, fashionable take. Dara’s Museum of Wonders is a pop-up museum in Marassi that is drenched in pink, caters to the five senses and has everything from a merry-go-round to a ball pit to help burn out the sugar rush.

“Dara’s Ice Cream wanted to create something new this summer season for Gen Z, as well as Millennials, and bring something super interesting to the community,” The Cult’s Founder, Sarah T. Shannon, tells #SceneHome. “Dara’s Museum of Wonders was designed, curated and served to present the tastiest ice cream experience at the North Coast.”

It's unsurprising that a design created by The Cult, hits on all the five senses. Dark Belgian chocolate scents are diffused all over the place, focusing on Dara’s delicious baked cookies. “By the end of the journey, guests would have heard, seen, touched, tasted and smelled ice cream like never before,” Shannon adds.

“All the visual stimuli that we’ve created throughout the space are meant to arouse curiosity, excitement and entertainment,” Shannon explains. At the museum, guests can spin and swirl like sugar on a merry-go-round, surrounded by cake that’s larger than life, with colourful swirls of softly whipped cream and cherries on top. And that’s not even mentioning the berry pink pool calling for ice cream lovers to jump right in.

The museum as a whole is tactile and interactive. As guests get to make contact with all of the installations in each room, they’re accompanied with yet another signature of The Cult’s work: music. “We’ve carefully curated a cool playlist that was explicitly made for this experience, to enhance the journey with an upbeat vibe,” Shannon continues. “The playlist focused on hit pop songs from the 80’s all the way till the present day, so that every generation would find ‘their song’ playing.”

The Cult has also designed exclusive merchandise for the Museum, ranging from unisex t-shirts, totes and water bottles to floats, beach towels, ice cream scoops and bucket hats.

To complete the immersion into this alternative world of ice cream, The Cult presented Dara’s team members with a list of aliases. The team members were able to choose whichever of the names that pleased them - including Robert Brownie Jr., J. Cone, and even Candy B - to use as they greet guests and guide them through the experience.

“The experience ends with complimentary ice cream from Dara’s variety of flavours, in addition to three custom-made flavours that are exclusive to the Museum,” Shannon says. Fashioned for all ages and sexes, this space was meant to cater to all the ice cream lovers out there. The Cult’s approach towards completely immersive spaces will continue in different cities and throughout seasons to constantly deliver new and exciting journeys for people to experience.

Photography Credit: Bory